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Dimensions of Competitiveness
[121471-1032]
Summer Term, academic year 2023/24
Friday 9.50 Room G-322 (building G)

Course coordinator: Professor Arkadiusz M. Kowalski

Head of the Department of East Asian Economic Studies
Deputy Director of World Economy Research Institute (WERI)
SGH Warsaw School of Economics
e-mail: arkadiusz.kowalski@sgh.waw.pl

Office hours: Thursday 1.30-2.30 pm, room 316 building A (by prior arrangement via e-mail).
Additionally, I am also available for consultations via e-mail or online via MS Teams at the day/time agreed
by e-mail.
Please do not use chat in MS Teams for communication outside of lecture time – please use e-mail for this
type of communication.
Professor Arkadiusz M. Kowalski – possible thematic areas for diploma thesis supervision
(please write me an e-mail (arkadiusz.kowalski@sgh.waw.pl) if interested):
 Clusters, cluster initiatives, cluster policy
 Innovation, technology commercialization
 Entrepreneurship, start-ups
 International competitiveness
 Internationalization of firms
 Industry 4.0, digital economy
 Emerging markets, especially in Asia
 Value chains
 Smart specialization

Materials for the course will be available at “Niezbednik SGH”:

https://n.e-sgh.pl/course/Opftz8

I. The main fields of the course

Globalization and global competitiveness: theoretical and methodological issues. Competitive position of a
country. Competitiveness and competitive ability. Investment attractiveness of countries and regions. Factor-
based analysis. Comparative competitive performance. Institutional competitiveness. The Europe 2020
Strategy. International competitiveness of Poland’s economy.

II. Course objective

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Presentation of the theory and methodology of international comparative studies related to the concept of
international competitiveness of the economy. Exploring the relations between competitiveness and
productivity. Teaching students how to measure the level of international competitive ability and
competitive position of the country. Introducing the concept of economic convergence. Demonstration of the
role of different factors influencing international competitiveness, with special focus on human resources,
innovation and institutions. Enabling students to make use of statistical data and latest reports assessing
international competitiveness. Teaching students how to conduct an analysis of international competitive
ability and position of an economy.

III. Readings
a) Basic textbooks
 Aiginger K., Vogel J., (2015),"Competitiveness: from a misleading concept to a strategy supporting
Beyond GDP goals", Competitiveness Review, Vol. 25 Iss 5 pp. 497 – 523.
 Huggins R., Izushi H., (2015)," The Competitive Advantage of Nations: origins and journey",
Competitiveness Review, Vol. 25 Iss 5 pp. 458 – 470.
 M.E. Porter (2008), On Competition, Upd Exp edition, Harvard B.S.

b) Supplementary readings
 Chandra V., Eröcal D., Padoan P.C., Primo Braga C.A., Innovation and Growth: Chasing a Moving
Frontier, OECD, The World Bank, 2009.
 Choi Y.B. (ed.), Institutional Economics and National Competitiveness, Routledge, 2011.
 De Grauwe P. (ed.), Dimensions of Competitiveness, MIT, 2010.
 Delgado M., Ketels Ch., Porter M.E., Stern S., The determinants of national competitiveness,
NBER Working Paper 18249, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA 2012
[http://www.nber.org/papers/w18249].
 Kowalski A.K., Weresa M.A. (eds) (2019), Poland: Competitiveness Report 2019. International
Competitiveness in the Context of Development of Industry 4.0, Warsaw: Warsaw School of
Economics – Publishing.
 Kowalski A.M. (2014), International competitiveness of countries with dynamic innovation
systems. Case study: Ireland, in: M.A. Weresa (ed.), Innovation, Human Capital and Trade
Competitiveness. How are They Connected and Why Do They Matter?, Springer, Washington, D.C.
 Kowalski A.M. (2018), Benefits of Broadening the Analysis of International Competitiveness: The
Case of CEE Countries, AIB Insights, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 7-11.
 Kowalski A.M. (2020), Dynamics and Factors of Innovation Gap Between the European Union and
China, Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 12, pp. 1966–1981, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-
020-00699-1.
 Kowalski A.M. (2020), Global South – Global North Differences, in: Leal Filho W., Azul A.M.,
Brandli L., Özuyar P., Wall T. (eds), No Poverty. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable
Development Goals, Springer, Cham, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69625-6_68-1
 Kowalski A.M. (2020), Towards an Asian Model of Clusters and Cluster Policy: The Super Cluster
Strategy, Journal of Competitiveness, Vol. 12(4), pp. 74–90. https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2020.04.05
 Kowalski A.M. (2022), Innovation Divide in the World Economy: China’s Convergence Towards
the Triad, Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 28(5), pp. 1350-1367, DOI:
10.3846/tede.2022.16865
 Kowalski A.M. (2022), The Dynamics of the Innovation Divide between China and Europe.
National and Regional Dimensions, London: Routledge, pp. 21-47.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003199052

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 Kowalski A.M. (Ed.), Brexit and the Consequences for International Competitiveness, Palgrave
Macmillan.
 Kowalski A.M., Lewandowska M.S., Rószkiewicz M. (2021), Innovation policy and performance
of Polish enterprises: in search for cluster cooperation additionality, Innovation: The European
Journal of Social Science Research, 35(4), pp. 600-621.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13511610.2021.1937068
 Kowalski A.M., Weresa M.A. (eds) (2020), Poland: Competitiveness Report 2020. The Role of
Service sector, Warsaw: Warsaw School of Economics – Publishing DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-
69625-6_68-1
 Kowalski A.M., Weresa M.A. (eds), Poland: Competitiveness Report 2021. Bilateral Economic
Cooperation and Competitive Advantages, Warsaw: Warsaw School of Economics – Publishing,
pp. 13-26.
 Krugman P., Competitiveness: A Dangerous Obsession, “Foreign Affairs”, March/April 1994.
 M. Miozzo, V. Walsh, International Competitiveness and Technological Change, Oxford
University Press, USA, 2006.
 Martin R.L., A Study on the Factors of Regional Competitiveness, A final report for the European
Commission DG Regional Policy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge 2003.
 OECD, Measuring Productivity. Measurement of aggregate and industry-level productivity growth,
OECD Manual, OECD, Paris 2001.
 Parrilli M.D., Asheim B.T., Interactive Learning for Innovation: A Key Driver within Clusters and
Innovation Systems, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.
 Pedersen O.K., Institutional Competitiveness – How Nations Came to Compete, Copenhagen
Business School, CBS, 2008.
 Sala-i-Martin X., Blanke J., Drzeniek Hanouz M., Geiger T., Mia I., Paua F., The Global
Competitiveness Index: Measuring the Productive Potential of Nations, in: The Global
Competitiveness Report 2007/08, World Economic Forum, Geneva: 2007.
 Snowdon B., Stonehouse G., Competitiveness in a globalised world: Michael Porter on the
microeconomic foundations of the competitiveness of nations, regions, and firms, “Journal of
International Business Studies”, 2006, 37, pp. 163–175.
 Westeren K., Foundations of the Knowledge Economy: Innovation, Learning and Clusters, Edward
Elgar Pub, 2012.
The most important reports assessing international competitiveness:
 IMD, World Competitiveness Yearbook (annual report), Louzanne;
 The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, Index of Economic Freedom, annual report,
Washington, DC and New York;
 The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, Doing Business (annual report),
Washington;
 World Economic Forum (WEF), Global Competitiveness Report (annual report).

Final grade – elements:

 Final exam (test/open questions): 60%
 Coursework: 40%

Final exam consists of several one-choice test questions and several short open questions, covering material
discussed during lectures, with focus on theoretical and methodological aspects of international
competitiveness, as well as additional reading (articles uploaded to the course website):

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 Aiginger K., Vogel J., (2015),"Competitiveness: from a misleading concept to a strategy

supporting Beyond GDP goals", Competitiveness Review, Vol. 25 Iss 5 pp. 497 – 523.
 Huggins R., Izushi H., (2015)," The Competitive Advantage of Nations: origins and journey",
Competitiveness Review, Vol. 25 Iss 5 pp. 458 – 470.

PROF. ARKADIUSZ M. KOWALSKI | DIMENSIONS OF COMPETITIVENESS